Busy year for the RAIB

IN its annual report, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) says it received 457 notifications of accidents and incidents from the industry, resulting in 38 preliminary examinations. This led to 14 full investigations and six safety digests. RAIB said while its aim is to publish reports and safety digests within 12 months of the date of occurrence, individual investigations can sometimes extend beyond this because of their complexity and scale. In 2020 the average time taken to publish was 11.2 months. RAIB has also been issuing learning summaries, based on archive data, to highlight issues of concern. Chief Inspector Simon French is to retire in the autumn.